RAMALLAH
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas called for a halt to Israel's practices in occupied East Jerusalem during a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the official Palestinian news agency reported on Friday.
The phone call, the report said, had tackled Israel's "dangerous escalation in Jerusalem as a result of Israel's aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, forceful displacement of Palestinians, and continuation of settlement projects."
Tension has run high across the occupied West Bank since the Wednesday shooting of an extremist Jewish rabbi in Jerusalem.
Following the shooting, Israeli police killed a Palestinian man for allegedly shooting the rabbi – who was seriously injured in the attack – and closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, triggering clashes with Palestinian protesters.
Israeli authorities reopened Al-Aqsa on Friday, but barred male worshippers under 50 years old from entering the religious site.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
By Qais Abu Samra
www.aa.com.tr/en
